Friday, July 22, 2011

Boat Projects Progress Report. Making Headway!

I had high hopes for the el cheapo Thompson's Advanced Formua Water Seal fix for our leaking teak decks. It did work initially, but the biblical rains we had a few days ago resulted in leaks everywhere again. We've decided to fiberglass them over. It was going to be done this weekend, but I called it off due to the extreme heat.

This is a screenshot from my work computer. I think it's pretty funny.

The forecast shows 91 degrees from noon to 7 PM, but the current temperature is 103 degrees. You'd think a savvy computer programmer would have written that script to adjust itself to what the temperature is.

In any event, 103 degrees (and it will no doubt get hotter) is too hot to do any boat projects. I have been doing a few small things, like replacing boat speakers that have rotted over the years. Believe it or not, this old Realistic speaker sounded great, even with the big tear in the speaker!

I replaced it anyway with a pair of marine speakers mounted on each side of the wall.

By the way, I took some good advice and bought a racheting crimper. Like most of you guys, I had one of those cheap stripper/crimpers. The racheting ones do it right every time.

That little piece of blue tape is where Pam has masked off to paint the underside of the roof. It's just about done now and looking good! She's finished the side decks and foredeck and just has to paint the aft deck part.

There's a lot going on, or will be going on in this picture.

There were two Realistic car speakers under the roof that didn't work at all. The non-stainless screws that attached them were so badly rusted that I had to chisel them off. I then discovered why they didn't work. There was no speaker cones left and the metal parts were rusted and crumbling. The new marine speakers sound very nice.

There are two other projects in this photo. Those nasty cushions are being replaced with brand new white Sunbrella cushions, and the middle window is going to have the glass replaced so I can get rid of the round gizmo in the middle. For my landlubber friends, can you guess what it is? Believe it or not, it's a kind of windshield wiper. The middle part spins really fast, spinning off water by centrifugal force. It's a cool idea but it totally ruins the view.

The new forest green bimini I ordered will be installed over the weekend. Pam saw it when the canvas guys were fitting it and she said that it looked really nice.

The white spots on the deck in the above pic is bird doo-doo. This teak deck will be glassed over too. You can see the upper helm station behind Pam. I've ordered a new chair for the helmsman, while passengers can enjoy the view from deck chairs. The flybridge will be getting painted shortly and new stereo speakers installed. A new acrylic cover will replace the plastic I have tied around the instruments and new Morse controls will be installed to replace the broken ones there.

These speakers don't work. Don't know why. ;-)

Pam christened our new grill two nights ago. It's a Magma Catalina Infrared. She likes it. I liked the chicken kabobs that came off it.

We have about two months to get the boat ready. We're making good progress but there's still much to be done.

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About Us

We started cruising on our old trawler in September of 2011, traveling from Connecticut to upstate New York and then down the ICW as far as Brunswick Georgia. On a visit back to upstate New York, we were presented with an opportunity to buy ten acres of land in Bleecker, a small town in the Adirondack Park. During 2013, we plan on continuing to fix up our old boat, but will also begin building a small farmstead in Bleecker.
You can follow our boat blog at trawlerdriftaway.blogspot.com and our Bleecker blog at bleeckermountainlife.blogspot.com.

Drift Away Specs

Drift Away is a 1980 Cheoy Lee 46' LRC (long range cruiser). She has twin 120 HP Ford Lehman diesels, 15 kw and 7.5 kw generators, and carries 800 gallons of fuel and 400 gallons of water. She cruises at 8 knots and has a top speed of 9.5 knots, plenty fast enough for this old sailor.

She is somewhat unique in that the inside helm staion is on the main level, along with the galley and saloon. There is also a helm on the flybridge. The lower level has three staterooms, each with a full head, plus the engine room.

Drift Away sat on the hard for many years before we bought it from an estate. She has suffered considerably from neglect, but we are amazed at all the things that work, like the two Ford Lehmans, and the Naiad stabilizers. There was and is much work to do, but we will return her to ship shape condition. Eventually. As long as it doesn't interfere with having fun.